Transmission mechanism



E. F. NQRELIUS. Q 'TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8. |918.

1,356,734, Patented Oct. 26,1920.A

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- Ilm/excu `E. F. NORELIUS. TRANSMISSION- MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED Nov. '8, 1918.

1,356,734, l Patented oet. 26,1920.

Eig. a

` L; -ithat the steering of the vehicle may be ef- A T o all whom it may concern:

EMIL: r. noRELIUs. ois' rnoRIa,'II,I.INoIs, AssIeNon To THE Horn' MANUFACTIIMNQ ooMPANY, or srocnroN, Mummia A ConPonA'rIoiv on CALIFORNIA.

,. A' miiIvsivIIssIon MEcHaNIsIvI.

constructionland lparticularly pertains to a A steering' transmission for tractors. l

-The present invention is concerned with a drivingJ and `steering means for tractors,

similar in operation to that disclosed in my Aco-pending application entitled Tractor transmission and which bearsthe filing date Sept.17, 1918, and Ser.v No. 254,443. a' In transmission mechanisms of this par- I ticular type, it-is desired to provide uninter rupted ldriving means for Vindependently actuating the two driving 4units of -a tractor and to `furthermore provide power 'driven 'means adapted to be selectively controlled dent tothe steering operation.

AThe present invention contemplates thev to vary the relative speeds of the two traction units, thereby eliminating theuseof friction brakes and clutches and insuring iected with a minimum'floss of powerfinciuse of a main driving shaft adapted to be vdriven at variable speeds through a set of speed changing gears and to vvimpart motion to separately opera-ted driving units, sald main' .shaft bein-g furthermore adapted to.

drive means for producing variable speeds of rotation for thetwo traction units driven thereby. y The ,invention is illustratedby way of eirample in Athe accompanying drawings in which- L Figure-1 is a view in side elevation, .illustrating a completely assembled tractor'upon I Fig.v 3 is a ragmentary'view and plan,`

which lthe transmission mechanism isutilized, the view further 'discloslng'parts .as broken away for 4the-sake of clearness and convenience. f 1 Fig-2 is a view in iongitudinal section y as seen'centrally of the transmission mechanism, particularly disclosing the speed changing gears and the .steering clutches.

F, NoRnLIUs, a

specieation ,of Letters Patent. Patented oet. 2e, '1920'. Application filed 'November y8, 1918 Serial no. 261,632.

v-illustrating the complete transmission mechanism withparts removed, to more clearly disclose the relation of the driving shafts with the aXle of the separate tiaction units.

Fig.- 4 is a viewin transverse section and elevation, disclosing the driving axle of the `traction units and the power transmission means in connection therewith. n Fig. 5 1s a view in end elevation, disclosing one of the traction driving sprockets andthe planetary gear arrangement'in the end thereof.

Fig. `6 Vis a view in plan,.illustrating the transmission mechanism as dissociated from the traction units and with parts broken away to disclose a transmission.

modified form of-steering l Referring more particularly to theJ drawings, l0 'indicates a tractor main frame at the-opposite sides of which are positioned truck roller frames l1. These framesare. yieldably mountedi toI support the main frames byv means of an equalizer mechanism 12 at their v:forward ends and spring members 13 interposed between their rear` ends and the frame., As is customary, the frame members 11 provide mountings for loadsup# porting rollers 11i, which, in turn, bear upon' the lower' run of a track chain l5; The forward ends of the truck roller frames are itted with vidler sprockets 16, around which the chains pass while the opposite end Lof the chain passes 1'around rthe driving.,r sprockets 17. These sprockets are provided'with their. l

rotating .axes vin fixed relation to an axle '18,v which is mounted transversely of the main -frame and is rotatably 'supported within a transmission case 1.9. Eafch of these i sprockets is formed with lan internal ring gear Q0., asparticularly shown vin F ig.. 5.1

Thesegears are in constant mesh with a plurality of small planetaryjgeai" 'pinions 21, which are'mounted 'for independent ro'- Athe pinionsfl in meshwith the ringgears 20 fand drivinvP gears 23. These: last named gears are ixedto the opposteends of they axle 18 and. impartgmoton to thesprockets from this axle. 1

The axle 18 is drivenby a bevell driving gear 24, which is keyed upon it at a point substantiallyat its middle.- This driving gear is in mesh withthe bevel. pinion 25 lixed to the end `of a counter shaft 26. As shown in Fig. 2, the counter-shaft 1s roi tatably supported within the bottom of the transmission case 19 and `,extends parallel to .the main drive shaft 27, beneath which it" is positioned. The counter-shaft 26 carries a series of gears of different diameters, which' are designed to mesh with complementary gears upon the driving shaft 27 ,It will be understood that the gears upon.v

the'shaft 27 are free to slide, as' actuated by a shifting yoke 28,' and it will be further evident that the 4selective meshing of these gears will produce variation in speedl ratios between the main shaft 27 and the countershaft 26.

The shafts 26 and 27 and their gears represent the usual -speedchanging transmission mechanism "with f hich vehicles are equippedf The present invention is more 'particularly concerned withfa steering means vpartially mounted upon an extension of the shaft' 27, the remainder being in operative connection.therewith. .As clearly shown in Fig. 2, it will be seen that spiral gears 29 and 30are mounted upon the shaft 27 and are directly carried by separate sleeves 31 and 32.

The' opposite' ends of these sleeves are enlarged or otherwise integrally united with members to provide cone clutch members 33 35 `and 34. These parts of th'e clutches are cupshaped and are adapted 'to receive sliding cone clutches 35 and The slidingcones are splined to the main shaft 27 and may be alternately shifted to engage their respective clutch cups by means of shifting yokes ,37. These yokes may be controlled by a swinging lever 38, extending upwardly from Gregg-provided with spur gears 49, which are in the gear case,^as shown in Fig..1, and which is connected by a Vlink 39 with' a short lever 40, -thus completing the operative mechanism for both of the yokes as f they are vmounted upen their shafts 41 and 42. The

connecting rod 39 'also accomplishes another function which will be hereinafter disclosed;`

The worm gears 29 and 30 are in constant mesh with worm gears 43 land44 respectively, these being Fixed upon shafts 45 and 46. Thefi'shafts45 and 46 extend at right angles to the main shaft 27 and are arranged in parallel relation to each' other, as shown in Fig. 3. The shaft 46 extends outwardlyv through the lefthand side `of the gearcase, within lwhich it is provided with suitable bearings and is fitted .at its' outer end with the driving pinion 47 The shaft 45 extends oppositelyy through the right-hand side of the gear casepand it is 'fitted at its outer end with driving pinion 48. Within 'the case each of these shafts is constant mesh and which insure that rotation of one shaft in onev directionwill produce rotation of the other shaft inthe op'- posite direction simultaneously. The gears 47 and v48 are in constant mesh with large spur gears 50 and 51 respectively, particularly shown in Fig. 4 as being Vfree to rotate around tubular extensions of the'transmission case. The hubs of these gears also carrythe planetary gear spiders 22 and thus -insure that rotation ofeither of the gears Y50 or 51- will produce simultaneous rota-l tion of the gear spider carried therebyand thus effect a movementfof the planetary gear i pinions 2l in relation to the ring gears 20 and the drivingpinions 2'3, which are carried upon the ends of the axle 18;

1t' isdesired tonormally-hold the two shafts 45 and 46 against rotation and this is accomplished by means of a brake druml 52, whch'is here shown as keyed to the A shaft, 46. This drum is providedv with a brake band 53, adapted to be expanded and contracted by the oscillation of a'lever `54,

which is connected with the rodv39 and will` therefore'swing in unison with the levers 38 .and 40. ,A block 55 isinterposed between the brake band and the lever 54 in a manner to insure that the band will. be Vreleased when leither of the cone clutch members 35 and A36 is in driving engagement with its complementary member 33 o r 34.

In a modified form of the invention, as

yshown in Fig. 6, it will be noted that the en.- tire' axle structure is contracted and that4 the gears 47, 48, 50 andl are disposed within the transmission case, thus completely I housing these gears and protecting them from dust. The operation and details of construction are, however, identical `with,

that previously disclosed.

In operation of the present invention, the main shaft .27 is driven by anysuitable source of'sdpply such as the internal combustion engine, as indicated in Fig. 1. By

i shifting the sliding gears upon shaft-27,

e spiders of the brake 52. Vhen it is desired to change the course of travel of the vehicle, the lever 38 is shifted either forwardly or rearwardly. When shifted forwardly, the yokes -37will swing to move the clutch cone 35 away from its complementary member and the cone 36 into engagement with ,thegmember 34. As these cones arel splined upon the shaft 27, the sleeve will thus be locked to rotate wpith ldirection of arrow 5..

these Ashafts to' rotate and will/therefore.

allow the gears and 5l tube driven in opposite 4directions at a uniform rate of.v

-of planetary gears in constant mesh with cated by arrow a in Fig. 2. As the shafts 453and 46 are connected by gearis 49, they will rotate simultaneously, the one in the direction of arrow a and the other in the .Simultaneous with this rotation, the brake drum 52 will be released'ftp permit speed. The normal speedof gear will be accelerated and its acceleration will be Vadded to the driving speed of theplanetary y pinions carried bythe .spider of this gear,

thus increasing the speed ofthe sprocket driven by these pinions; At the 'same time,

- the opposite sprocket, due toa reversal in operation, will decrease speed ofrotation .a' degree correspondingl to the increase `in speed of the first main sprocket.` A

vThus V it 'will be'observed that the longi-l tudinal axis'of the vehicle is traveling atA 2.5 its normal speed .while the tractionl unit .on the inner'side of the 'turn is slowedfdownl and the'traction unit on the uter .side of the turn is acceleratedkthus causing the ve'- hicle to pursue an arcuate courseof travel. The radius of this arc will be dependent lupon the rate ofspeed at which the vehicle is traveling and will therefore be affected j.

by a shifting ofthe` speed changing gears upon the-shafts 26 and 27 If the shifting Alever 38 is drawnrearwardly, a vreverse operation would be effected and the vehicle7 would turn to the opposite side of the road way. Dtueto the similarity .in construction between the invention as shown in Figs. 1

to 5 inclusive, and that shown in Fig. 6,1 it is believed that a further discussionof the operation is unnecessary. Y

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that various changesin the combination,. construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those -skilled in the art, withoutv spirit of the invention` departing from the as claimed. f

Having thus described my y invention, what I claim and desire to secureby` lLetters Patent isl l. A. power transmission mechanism com' v prislng adrive shaft, an axle driven therefromm transmission housing through which the axle is rotatably secured, sprockets freely mounted to' rotate aroundl theopposite ends of the axle, driving pinions upon 'the axle, internalgears carried by the sprockets, planetary gears in mesh with the inter-nal gears and4 the pinions on the axle and reversible driving meansy carried by A the main shaft, Vadapted to affect the sepa rate sets of planetary gears to produce va riation in the speeds of rotation of the 2. A power transmission mechanismcom -prising a -man shaft, a drive shaft, gear means for rotating the drive shaftl at variable speeds as driven by themain shaft,` -adriving axle adapted to rotate in' unison- 'with the drive shaft, sprockets rotatable around the opposite ends of the-axle, a gear.

case providingfa bearing support for the axle, spur gears Icarried by" the axle ends, internal gears carried, the sprockets, sets bothfof said gears, freely rotatable gear spidersI lfor :supporting vsaid planetary' gears, spur gears fixed to rotate around'the eok -axle bearings of the transmission case and to carry the gear spiders, pmions meshing l ing speeds of the two sprockets. l

' 3. A'pyver transmission mechanism comprising a main shaft, a.' drive shaft, gear means 4for rdtating thefdrive shaft at variable speeds as driven' by the main shaft, a'

driving axleadapted to rotate n unison with. the driveA shaft, sprockets rotatable around the opposite ends of: the axle, a gear spur' gears fixed to rotate around the axle bearings of the transmission. .case and to 'carry Jche gear spiders, pinions vmeshing with 'said-.spur gears, separate :shafts carrying-the -pinions andgmeans for selectively.

said pinions'- simultaneously in either direction to affect 'the planetary'gears 1 and produce a desired variation thel driv with said spur gears, separate. shafts carry- -ing the pinions. and means `Afor selectively -'d`r1v1ng said pinlons simultaneously in either direction to affect the planetary gears and produce a desired variation 1n the driving speeds of the twosprockets and means for normally locking said last-named means against rotation.

4. A power Vtransmission mechanismcom' prisin'g a main shaft," adrive shaft, gear Vinea-ns for rotating the driveshaft at va-` riable. speeds as driven by the main shaft, a driving axle adapted to rotate in unison.

with the drive shaft, sprockets rotatable around theopposite ends of the axle, a gear case providing a bearing support for the axle, spur gears carried .by the axle ends,

internal gears carried by the sprockets, sets of planetary gears in constantineshwith 'both of said gears, freely rotatable gear spiders for supporting/said planetary gears,

spur gears fixed to rotate around the axle bearings of thetransmission case and to carr the ear siiders inions meshing Y a e withf'said spur gears, separate shafts carrying the pnons, drvingimeans freely rovIn testimony whereof Thuile hereunto setl tatng upon the main shaftfand in constant my hand in the presence oftwo subscribing engagement with said pinion shafts vandv Witnesses.

4 yc1utoh-nnembers adapted to selectively lock` EMIL`F. N ORELIUAS.y '5, 011e of said driving members in-relettiontov Witnesses: l r X,

the main shaft to produce Aa, desired rotation AUG. SCHNEIDER,`

' of the pinion shafts. CHAsz-M. FORESMAN. 

